Monthly Archives: July 2008

Whilst the pilgrims were busy at mass. Jing. Felix, Timmy, Clifton and I did Loftus again today. Young Timmy and Clifton pushed us last time and I was determined to try a few things this time that I hadn’t tried before. It’s awesome how everything that looks hard, isn’t once you give it a good go. I had a bit of a stack (lol) going over some rocks, the camera’s broken (kinda cool as I’ve always wanted to upgrade to a Canon IXUS) and my pride’s a bit dented but Jing pushed me to give it another go, and I did, and got it, so all’s great :)

PS: The TLD jersey I was wearing (looks like a soccer Jersey to me) kept me warm in the cold, but cool when I got hot too, highly recommend them. The 661 knee and shin pads were awesome, very happy.

Me.

Timmy never dissapoints with his XC gear lol.

Jing on his bling thing.

Clifton.

Felix.

Timmy demonstrating to me what happened before I flew over the handlebars.

Had to try it again, got it the 2nd time!

I said I would NOT mod this car.

Right?

WRONG.

Eddie was throwing out a set of Tein Super Street coilovers for FREE. The catch was that one of the dampers up front was not adjustable anymore as the knob was broken, not to mention the whole top thread being threaded. I got Deddy from Top One Automotive to re-thread the shock as well as adjust the one broken shock to 5 clicks from full stiff (set and forget aye?).

Fronts are as low as they will go, car feels good and isn’t scraping on anything (hehe).

Rode 25kms today and spent the whole time adjusting my saddle. It turns out that my saddle’s been too far back (not height, not angle, but seat rails) and this has slowed me down so much. Moving the seat forward an inch has placed me over my cranks (and not behind them), and after a slight increase in seat height there’s so much more power and response as a result.

The Reign’s feeling fast again.

I’ve also decided to give up old skool 2 finger braking so I’ve moved my levers and shifters inwards on my bars and I’ll be forcing myself to 1 finger brake from now on.

Also. I’ve been thinking the suspension, even though it’s set for my weight, is too soft too so playing with that, and damper settings will be next (and I’m surel it’ll take a while to perfect).

Super nice day today, and since World Youth Day has taken over Centennial Park, Suga and I decided to check out Bicentennial Park. We found it pretty frustrating having walkers, joggers and kids all sharing the same path, and in both directions, not to mention the path didn’t seem to loop so well (we ended up at Rhodes Ikea then on the road outside some industrial estate only to have to turn around and go back?). Anyways on the way around we saw some archers and then Suga spotted some dirt jumpers (whoo hoo!).

I spent the day fine tuning the gears on the Reign.

The course looks so cool.

I had about 5-6 goes, a dude there told me to practise on the 1st jump. I didn’t manage to get air time long enough to land on the 2nd down transition but after a pedal slip on the 4th go (and having the pedal pins once again dig into my shins) I lost a bit of confidence and called it a day, great fun though.

Suga having a go!

What a beast! No need for words!!!

My Reign frame is back from Gripsports! She’s satin black now… shit, did I just call him a she? Awesome.

Just printed off 100 JDMST T’s and a few Bike T’s for biker pals (you know who you are, email me!) :)

OK I finally got to do the Dam today (thanks again Jing for lending me your Reign!) to test out my new Met Parachute helmet + 661 chicken elbows + knee pads. I should have worn my 661 knee/shin pads as those fucking nasty pedals got my shins again today. I was super dissapointed with the pads I did wear though, not that they move much but they really dig into my skin and feel uncomfortable. I hope they get more comfy with more use.

The Met Parachute on the other hand was awesome. It’s light, airy, easy to get my Camelbak drink straw in there and I feel more confident with it on. Massive thumbs up from me.

The Reign’s frame shape straps on to the Thule rack really well, sooo sturdy. Thanks Shimano for the free stickers, more than happy to RPRSNT!

Charlie and his STP + matchig shoes. Kids these days… (lol).

Nailed this nasty little uphill today on my 2nd attempt, got it now… I’m chuffed.

Charlie loves the jumps on the DH section but the Reign’s just so awesome here, overtaking him on a different line felt too easy (felt like cheating). I’m dedicating myself and leaning into corners a lot more now, pretty happy with that and generally happy with how I went today as I cleared a few sections I hadn’t done before (even the nasty climb out of the bottom which was massively satisfying).

Got a call from Jon at Gripsport today to say my Reign frame is painted, and will be sent back to me tomorrow. It’s time to rock ‘n’ roll!!!

I just insured my Honda Jazz online with these guys (an online insurance company). Suoer cheap, great web site/user interface (simple, just how I love it). Awesome :)